by Susana Mohel
“Well, I’m glad to see you’re obviously feeling better,” the doctor comments as he enters the room, followed by a female colleague, while an orderly also comes in to hastily clear my breakfast tray out of the doctor’s way. “This is Dr. Wang, the hepatologist we spoke about yesterday, Mr. Sadger, and she will be taking care of your wife’s treatment.”
While they examine me, I quietly lie there while the two doctors converse in medical terms way over my head.
“Mrs. Sadger, we urgently need your medical records to clarify our understanding of your previous treatment, as we were very surprised to see Cyanamid included in your drug regime when your husband brought us your current medications yesterday. So, just to clarify—are you an alcoholic?”
I turn to Joel, as I haven’t the foggiest idea what they’re talking about.
“Cyanamid?” I ask in bewilderment, as he nods confirmation. “First I’ve heard of it, and I’m certainly not an alcoholic. All I know is that according to my doctor, the only cure for my condition was a liver transplant, which was never a realistic option since my health insurance wouldn’t cover such a procedure, and I certainly couldn’t afford to self-finance it.”
“I see.” Doctor Wang frowns. “All very puzzling. We’ll need to run some more tests just to confirm our initial findings, but as far as we can see, there is absolutely no requirement for you to undergo a liver transplant.”
I look at Joel again, my mind in a state of total confusion, unable to process any of it.
“But the doctor I saw…he said…there was no other way…” I force myself to continue. “After they’d completed the tests that were covered by my insurance, I was told a transplant was my only option, otherwise my condition would continue to deteriorate, meaning I only had a few months to live at best. I was sent away with pain killers, along with some vitamin tablets that were supposed to alleviate my condition.”
“Well, if it’s any consolation, Mrs. Sadger, your doctor didn’t entirely mislead you.” Dr. Wang raises her eyebrows. “If you had continued taking that medication, you wouldn’t have lived much longer. Cyanamide is a highly toxic and deadly drug at the dosage you appear to have been taking.”
Although I’m sitting, it still feels as though my world is falling apart beneath me.
“But why would anyone want to poison me?” I cry out. “Joel, I don’t understand, who would want to hurt me so badly?”
He hugs me and holds me close to his chest and only then do I begin to feel reassured and safe.
“Baby, I think it’s time we called the police.”
ღ
“At last! I’m being discharged! They’re finally letting me home today,” I yell as Joel walks into my hospital room. I’m practically bouncing on the bed with excitement at finally being released from what has begun to feel like a prison. I’ve been stuck here for nearly a week, since Dr. Wang wanted to be sure the Cyanamide was well on its way out of my system and hadn’t caused any long-term problems. So, I’m more than ready to return home and get on with living the rest of my life—you know, the one I didn’t think I’d be around to enjoy. My life with Joel. The life we’re going to share together. Our life. As a couple. Our future together.
So yeah, I’m pretty eager to get out of here.
Although the big question still remains unanswered, I know I can deal with whatever is discovered about who the hell was trying to slowly poison me, now that I have Joel by my side. Part of me still wonders if it wasn’t down to plain human error, a simple mix up over prescriptions, but Joel insists that’s not a feasible theory.
Anyway, I’ve left my mother in no doubt that she can forget any idea she might have had about me getting a quick divorce from Joel. While I’ve made it crystal clear she has to accept Joel as my husband, she’s made it equally clear that we’re not welcome at her house, although funnily enough, she hasn’t felt it necessary to decline her monthly allowance check. So, it turns out she only really cares about the income I provide, which is a real slap in the face considering everything I did was to keep her and Camille safe and provided for. Thankfully, I haven’t seen hide nor hair of Oscar the entire time I’ve been in the hospital, since I have absolutely no wish to see him again after all the nasty vindictive things he said to me.
So, my mother has made her choices, and I’ve made mine. It’s her loss if she chooses to have nothing to do with us, so I put all thoughts of her behind me as we leave the hospital. From now on, I’m getting on with my life in the way I see fit, and nothing and no-one is going to rain on my parade today.
“Fermin seems to have taken his house-sitting responsibilities very seriously. He says we should prepare to be amazed,” I comment as Joel drives us out of the hospital parking lot. Since he’s hardly left my side the entire time I’ve been in there, he called in his friend Connor to take over at Redlands in his absence, and has now offered him the vacant ranch foreman position. It’ll be such a relief to finally have someone totally reliable and trustworthy on staff.
“Knowing Fermin, I guess that means we’d better be prepared for anything,” Joel shakes his head, chuckling.
“Can’t argue with that,” I smile.
On the way home, we discuss my treatment, what we’ve been through these last days, and the investigations now being carried out by the police into my previous medical care under Dr. Kurt.
The whole matter was taken out of my hands once Dr. Wang reported her concerns regarding my previous treatment to the police. Within the hour, detectives were swarming into my room, asking all manner of detailed questions, which I answered to the best of my ability, relieved that Dr. Wang’s involvement meant it wasn’t up to me to prove anything.
My mother first took me for a consultation with Dr. Kurt, because according to her, he was the leading specialist for the symptoms I was experiencing. I was suffering from dizziness and nausea, and my skin had developed a yellowish-gray hue, with nothing my mother forced me to take making any difference to my condition.
Now, though, the police have put out an all-points bulletin for Dr. George Kurt, as he seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. All very dubious, and I wonder what on earth possessed my mother to take me to him in the first place.
Joel has his own theory about that, but I’ve asked him to wait for the outcome of the police investigation before jumping in with any accusations, since they’re based solely on his gut feeling without any actual hard evidence to back them up.
All I want right now is to go home. The police have recommended we don’t leave the ranch unless absolutely necessary while they continue their investigations, and Dr. Wang has told me not to overdue things as I still need to give my body time to fully recuperate.
Of course, my overprotective and possessive husband is thrilled to have a legitimate reason for keeping me locked up indefinitely, and although I can live with that for now, he’ll have to back off once I’m fighting fit again. I’ve wasted too much time allowing other people to push me around and force their decisions on me.
Well, not anymore.
While I’m more than happy for Joel and I to run every aspect of the ranch as equal partners, that doesn’t give him the right to control every aspect of my life. I know this is something my alpha male husband is going to struggle with, but he’ll eventually have to accept that’s the way it has to be. But for now, I just want us to spend some time together, reconnecting and getting to know each other again.
“What a way to spend our first couple of weeks of married life. Nothing more romantic than a honeymoon in the hospital.” I sigh.
“Baby, when all this bullshit is over, we should escape to some remote tropical island,” Joel says, taking the hand I have on his thigh to place a loud kiss on my palm.
“That sounds wonderful.” I sigh. “I feel like putting on a bikini again.”
“Who said anything about wearing a bikini?” He laughs. “I mean remote as in no one else around, so I have you naked all the time, just for me.”
“With my dick, for sure.” He winks.
I grin broadly as I look at him. I can’t help it. We’re just two idiots madly in love.
“I see the house is still standing, so that’s something,” Joel comments as we turn onto the drive leading up to Redlands.
“I don’t even want to imagine the outcome of Fermin being let loose in the house.” I laugh a little nervously, because let’s face it, my best friend can be a bit outrageous. “And I hope Connor’s been okay keeping everything going for us. It was really good of him to take over at such short notice.”
“I wouldn’t have asked Connor if I didn’t think he’d be up for it, and anyway, we’ve been in constant touch to make sure everything was running as smoothly as possible. Trust me, we’ve worked together for years and he’s a really great guy,” Joel reassures me. And I am reassured, I trust his judgment completely, and agree that it was worth the expense of bringing Connor on board to act as his right-hand man. I’ve learnt the hard way that not having reliable staff is a false economy that only leads to disaster.
“And you said we’re starting to get offers for renting plots of our land?” I worry, unable to believe we might actual be turning a corner and finding some solutions.
Joel nods.
“Yes, we are, but you don’t need to worry about any of that right now, that’s my job. You just need to concentrate on getting back to full strength.”
It’s hard for me to switch off from being responsible for everything to do with Redlands, but he’s right. The whole point of finding him was because he’s far more qualified to handle things, so now I should just let him get on with it.
As we park up in front of the house, Joel’s warm, strong hand covers mine, letting me know that he’s here with me. To care for me, protect me, love me.
Happiness floods through me.
Because I have a chance. We have a chance at an amazing future. Together.
Fermin is waiting for us on the porch, with glasses of lemonade at the ready. I’ve no doubt Fermin’s preferred option would have been champagne, but Dr. Wang has insisted on a strictly teetotal regime for me, to allow my liver to fully recover. So, lemonade it is, and that’s absolutely fine by me, although I certainly wouldn’t have begrudged Joel and Fermin a glass or two of champagne.
“Well, took y’all long enough,” Fermin exclaims, in an exaggerated fake Southern accent.
We both roll our eyes as we walk in, but as soon as we enter the house we hear a loud popping noise, which spooks Joel so much he immediately pushes me to the floor and throws his body over mine.
Then a mass of golden paper petals floats down over us.
“Umm…welcome home…” Fermin says rather sheepishly, holding a large confetti cannon in his hand. Ah, of course, his subtle version of a welcome home.
I want to jump up to give Fermin a big hug, but my husband’s strong arms hold me firmly in place.
“Take it easy, baby, you only just left the hospital,” he exhales loudly.
I think poor Joel is the one who needs a moment to recover, since his hair trigger reaction shows he’s still worried there’s someone out there who wants me gone.
“I’m fine, babe,” I murmur, gently kissing his cheek as I extricate myself from his arms. I stand and admire the hundreds of gold, coral, and blue balloons decorating the foyer of the house. “This is fabulous, Fermin!”
“Well, someone had to make a statement. After all, we’ve plenty to celebrate, such as you being alive, healthy and finally back home,” he declares, picking me up and twirling me round.
Joel smiles as he looks on, as happy as I am at my friend’s words.
It’s true.
I’m alive.
I’m free.
And I’m happy.
“The cook has fixed some lunch for us out on the terrace. All your favorites—rib eye steaks, salad, corn on the cob, followed up with blueberry pie, so I sure hope you’ve both got a good appetite.”
“That sounds great, Fermin. And thank you for taking care of the house, and organizing all of this,” Joel says, dropping my bags on the floor. He claps him on the back as they share a man hug, and I’m beyond thrilled to see my husband and my best friend bonding in this way. Joel still has to act the grump though. “But I’m not cleaning up all this shit. That’s all down to you, Brummell.”
He doesn’t fool anyone for a second though. I can tell that Joel’s happy, like really happy.
“No sweat,” Fermin replies. “I’ve hired a cleaning company to come in later and clear all this up, and then they’ll be coming in weekly to keep on top of things. Plus, bearing in mind your doctor’s instructions about the importance of a healthy diet for you Tara, I’ve also retained the cook to make sure you’re eating properly.”
“Oh, have you now?” Joel states, crossing his arms over his chest. “You didn’t think to check with me first?”
“Didn’t think it was necessary,” Fermin calmly replies. “You left me in charge of household matters, so I just went ahead and used my initiative. No need to thank me.”
I smile, not bothering to join in their little squabble. Since Fermin is well aware of our financial difficulties, I have little doubt he’ll be covering all the costs and I also have little doubt that he’ll refuse point blank to let us make any kind of a contribution.
Over the next couple of weeks, I spend time in my father’s old den going through some of the endless paperwork. With Fermin’s help, I also make a few changes around the house—moving furniture, painting walls, trying to make the house seem more like ours, since Joel and I need to leave the past behind and start afresh. Although Fermin still wants to throw all the old furniture away, I persuade him to have the better items refurbished instead. Just because he has money to burn doesn’t mean I feel comfortable with him spending so much on helping us out.
Today, Joel left early for San Antonio, with a full schedule of meetings and appointments ahead of him. This is the first time he’s left me alone for more than a few minutes since I came home from the hospital, and he was still reluctant to leave me, but realistically he knew that the real world was done waiting.
Naturally, before he left he gave me a long lecture about not overdoing things, not leaving the ranch under any circumstances, to stay close to Fermin, to call him if I was in any way worried. In the end, I had to practically force him out of the door to get him to shut him up and actually leave.
Now he’s just got back, still dressed in his usual jeans, short-sleeved plaid shirt and boots. He’s a totally edible and delicious vision, the man of my dreams. However, since I’m very aware that Redlands has turned out to be a demanding lover leaving precious little time for our romance, I’m more than happy to take Joel’s hand and follow his lead when he asks me to come outside with him.
“Where are we going?” I ask excitedly, since he’s hardly let me set foot outside until now.
“Wherever the wind takes us,” he replies playfully.
“You’re crazy,” I grin happily.
“You knew that before you married me, yet you still went ahead,” he says, quirking his eyebrow in that gesture of his that I love so much. “So, who’s the crazy one here?”
I raise up on my tiptoes to kiss him on the lips. At first the kiss is chaste, but it quickly develops into something deep and sensual.
“Do you want to go out or not?” Joel murmurs, breaking off our kiss as my hand moves to the waistband of his pants. “Because if you keep going that way, the only thing you’ll be seeing is our bedroom ceiling, screaming out my name as I make you come in a dozen different ways.”
Fair point. Tempting as that is, I’ve been going stir crazy being stuck inside, and there’s always later…
“Okay then, let’s go.” I smile.
Joel takes my hand and leads me out to the stables, where his horse is saddled up, ready and waiting for us.
/> I can’t help it, a giggle escapes from my lips.
“What?” he asks, staring at me.
“Nothing, forget it.” I answer, still smiling. “It’s just a silly joke Fermin told me.”
“Now that I don’t want to hear,” Joel rolls his eyes as he places his huge, strong hands around my waist to life me up into the saddle. I’m perfectly capable of mounting a horse on my own, but I like the feel of his hands on me. Next, he mounts up behind me as we’re sharing the saddle, which seems kind of symbolic to me. We’re sharing our lives, our love. We’re sharing everything.
Joel takes the reins, readying the horse to go. I lean back against his chest, allowing myself to relax in the soft swaying movement.
I love how his body molds against me, the way his legs fit around mine. I love feeling his strong body next to mine, one hand on the reins, the other firmly holding me. It’s so easy to forget about the rest of the world like this. We’re all alone in our little bubble. Nothing else matters. Just us.
But if we’re not heading to the bedroom, I need to channel my thoughts in another direction. Being this close affects us both. His hard erection presses against my butt, while my panties are drenched.
Suddenly I remembered Fermin’s joke.
“Save a horse…” I murmur, choking back a giggle.
“What’s that?” Joel asks.
“It’s just something Fermin said the other day… save a horse, ride a cowboy.”
Joel laughs. “Well, baby, I promise you’ll definitely be riding this cowboy later,” he whispers in my ear.
“It that a threat, Mr. Sadger?”
“No, my love, that’s a promise.”
I’m so turned on right now, and I realize Joel knows exactly what he’s doing once I figure out where we’re going.
His hand squeezes my waist. “You remember, right?”
Of course I remember, how could I possibly forget?
It’s been a long time, and many things have changed, yet there are still whispers of happy memories floating in the air. His body still seeks mine, mine still calls to him, that will never change.